This was all well before email was well-established and tapes circulated by snail mail. No cellphones. Pioneer days- your friends went out on tour and maybe or maybe did not return weeks later.
Anyway, I reliably heard from so many sources that this show was terrible because the Dead had stayed up all night before and just managed to stumble wearily on stage and somehow struggle through a lame performance.
Accordingly, due to these criticisms I never sought this recording out at the time. Probably the only '87 I never collected (of the ones available).
Took me 20 years to realize how great a show this is. Must have been absolute paradise to have been there.

Jerry really means business on this Fire. He's not F'ing around here. Listen to him tell you how it is with both his electric, inspired playing and his confident, emotional rendering of the lyrics. This has moved into position as one of my favorite Fire's. The Desolation Row is, as another commenter stated, is truly Bobby at his best and if your a fan of the slightly urgent, sped up Eyes of the late 80s, this is good one.
You can feel the good vibes at this show coming through in this recording. I saw a few shows on this summer run, but wasn't lucky enough to make it up to Telluride. Summer '87 had some real gems, and this is right up there. Not a "solid from opener to encore" type of show, but well worth a listen as there are spots where the boys truly soar.

"The Harmonic Convergence" - we were all talking about it - I was in at almost every show in the summer of '87, and they were all worth it - this was a good one, and this recording is good - Desolation Row is awesome (if you like Bob Weir) and the Fire is outstanding

This is a beautiful and bright Eyes. Found a video that was shot of this festival but shows mostly footage of the fan scene, not the Dead on stage.
People loved this band: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1118064564629160865#

This was the most fun I ever had at a Dead show.
And that's out of 69 shows. Amazing times!
The shows themselves were ok... Inspired at times. I think the high altitude and the wind kinda messed with the Boys. But it didn't matter.
I've always loved square meals in the most beautiful places on earth!

Great shows and good vibes abounding! These were my first shows as well and I must say some of the best I experienced in total. I'm from Durango, a short drive from Telluride and was very psyched to get a chance to see the boys so close to home.
Camping out in Ilium in a freind's teepee definitely made the whole experience vibrate on a groovier level, whether the Harmonic Convergance had anything to do with it who's to say. I had the chance to meet Bill Graham wandering around town, but I didn't realize who it was till later due to the fuzziness of my brain from all the hundreds of doses I recieved from every other Deadhead in the crowd. Hits were in abundant supply, as well as smiling happy faces having a wild and high time.

After the show I was stumbling down Main Street when I heard some drumming coming from the venue. I headed back and converged with Baba Olatunji, Mickey Hart, and dozens of drummers, professional and otherwise. I was dancing next to Mickey as a moving jam pranced and strolled and bounced the length of the town.
These shows marked the Harmonic Convergence and a decade of touring for me. It was kind of an end of an era in my mind. The show sold out but ended up free for anyone who was there. Tickets became irrelevant, likely because the locals didn't want heads crawling all over the place trying to get in. So, it worked out for everybody.
Having been connected with a very groovy sub-scene; friends from CU, tourheads I had danced and slept with over the years...it seemed they were all there. The shows themselves were casual, almost secondary to the group hugs, drum circles, and all those great spirits I have loved and who are now lost to me except in memory. Has anyone tried starting an old Deadhead blog base? Like, helping people reconnect after all these years? I would love to say hello to some of those I've loved.
After '87 a combo of serious wierdness and increased responsibilities created a situation where I became a sometimes participant, but never again after these Telluride shows did I feel the same sense of community, one where I could look across the crowd and recognize, even know by name or more, people in any direction. Subsequent shows, and especially in the '90s, I felt like a stranger while it kept getting stranger.
Telluride was by far the most beautiful Dead shows I ever witnessed, from the mountains and streams to the smiles and the eyes...

Great sounding FManalog source!!!
I love Colorado. Spent my 17 and 18th birthdays there; really getting to know the land and the peoples there. good shit.
Just starting to check out the massive GD collection here. We are really blessed.
anyone want to trade? www.phishhook.com/lists/garcia
Peace Increased!
Thanks for the upload and the transfer to the archive!!!!

Was this the only occasion they played this venue? Why were the shows free? The next week or so would present the band playing in non-corporate venues. The sound is foggy but full-bodied.
1st Set: The sound positively affects "Stranger" as it gives it a smoky nighttime appeal. "Franklin's" is brisk, breezy and too short to ever be taken seriously. But we're havin a good time; evidenced by this grooverific "Minglewood." "It's T right here in wherever we are, where the little girls know what to do-just What to Do..." There's a mental disconnect between Bobby and the boys at the transition moment at 6:30. Jerry sounds like he's visited the "Candyman" but that only adds authenticity to the story. "Uncle" gets the pace back forward. The mean intent behind "River" is a tad better than the undynamic, though musical, execution. "Our equipment crew are conducting a science experiment for the summer school and it's going to take a couple of minutes." WE did wait three for an only average "Tennessee." It amazes me how the men can better adapt Dylan's epics (in a full band setting contrasting Dylan's brilliant solo mid 60 versions) Anyways, this "Desolation" shines, but Bobby ventures into cheesy vocal areas a few times. Yea, here's that "Deal" which I expected to follow 'Cassidy' a day or two ago. It's a solid rocking version, but I swear there's band out there who can take, what should be a barn-burner, to the next level.
2nd Set: "Scarlet" is joyous and uplifting. It immediately places a smile on the face. Initially the "Fire" is sludgy, but Jerry's fierce manly singing during the 4:00 minute verse leads to some tearing and ripping chords. "LLR" continues the strength (non-delicate, despite song's themes, I know a guy capable of this muscular song would stand again on his feet...) found in these performances. Even "Eyes" approaches like an approaching rescue train in the distance. Yet the song itself is oddly disaffecting. A brief "Help" like guitar jam leads us into thundering then trippy "Drums." "Space" is standard and appears to go the "Truckin"/"Miracle" route, the latter of which appears. The song's fine... but there's some god-awful noise coming from Bobby's (?) instrument. Ewwww...let's move on to a energetic but not steamrollin' "Bertha." Something has sucked the urgency out of this band as "Dew," (longer than usual) lacks bite-(til the final frames.) However, Jerry's singing, and Brent's providing this low-end bluesy board that fits the mood. Let's conclude with a decent "Saturday."
Someone at the radio station felt uncomfrtable with the four minutes of dead air so we get a stooge assuring us.
Hmmm... they had an earlier success, back to Dylan with a pretty "Baby Blue." Brent's board work makes up for the rough in Jerry's voice.
You gotta love Bill, there may not be any rhythm in those joints, but the ones that can convince you that "We want to thank you for today, it's been special to all of us, hopefully the same for you. On the way out, you could do us a favor, there are plastic bags ..." I mean, was he an active listener during the concerts or was he too (righteously? concerned with other 'business' elements...
The mids of the show are more compelling than its ends. 3 1/4

Good playing, source is lacking.

Great show! wish i was there...
regarding the fiddle picker mentioned in the other review... it sounds to me like the fiddle sound is actually Brent Mydland on keyboards instead of a real fiddle?

Real good show...There's some unidentified fiddle pickers/peddle Steel'ers? playing on Big River...Jerry's voice on 'Push comes to shove' on the 16th is delightful....Download both of 'em...Aug 15-16,1987.

The Fire gives me chills up and down my spine man...Jerry puts more emotion in to the "If mercys a busness section than I have ever heard...def. listen to this one! Smokin! Desolation is Bobby at his best too.

these shows were special, but the REAL shows took place after the first night, when Mickey led a percussion procession to the Telluride Civic Center down the streets of the town...then early the morning of the 16th, Babatunde led a solstice percussion and voice celebration for the lucky 400 folks who didn't sleep

Free show, sweet place, beauitiful day. Scarlet was the highlight for me. This Healy Mix is better than aud.ladner version. Peace.